The Inmate

by Freida McFadden

AUTHOR’S NOTE Even though my books are thrillers, a genre that traditionally has dark elements, I do my best to keep them as family-friendly as I possibly can. You’re not going to come across any graphic scenes of violence or S-E-X. (Mostly because I know my family members will be reading!) However, people have different emotional responses to different things and some of my books delve into more controversial topics. So for this reason, I created a list of content warnings for all my thrillers, which can be found linked off the top of my website: https:/freidamcfadden.com/ This is a resource that can be used by readers who need to protect their mental health, as well as for adults whose kids are reading my books. Please also keep in mind that in a few cases, these content warnings are major spoilers for twists that take place in the book. With that in mind, I hope you safely enjoy this journey into my imagination!

I close my eyes and I can still see his ruggedly handsome face. His eyes looking into mine. I love you, Brooke. That was what he said to me just a few hours before he tried to kill me. And that’s not even the worst thing he did.

My hand gripping the needle trembles, nearly missing his skin. But you did kill those people. I want to say it, but it would be unprofessional. And there’s no point. Despite all the evidence, Shane would never own up to what he did that night.

Theory it was tim or whatever tf her childhood friends name is who killed the ppl and shane is innocent

I never saw the face of the man who tried to kill me. The power was out that night and everything was pitch black. But I knew Shane very well. I knew the feel of his body. The smell of him. I knew it was him. It had to be. Because if it wasn’t him, I have made a terrible mistake.

Despite everything, I have to smile. Tim is a lot of things, but he’s not creepy. But if he looked me up in the parent directory, he must have figured out that Josh is not a kindergartener.

Im caling it i think he tried to kill her

Tracy Gifford is the girl who was found dead over the summer. Obviously, none of us have been on a date with her. But then Tim raises his cup. And he takes a drink.

Fuckin suspish

After all, ten years ago, he saved my life.

I call bs

“It was Reese.” His eyes are like saucers, now that he has my attention. “It had to be. He’s the only one who—”

Shane

Why do i lowkey love him im sorry but i just get vibes off him i think hes innocent

It’s Tim’s voice—I’m relieved. While I know Shane isn’t a murderer, there’s nobody I trust more than Tim Reese.

Well i dont trust this mf

“When Shane tried to… you know… he was wearing sandalwood aftershave. The smell of it makes me sick now.” “Oh!” Tim rubs his jaw. “Jesus, Brooke, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I got that aftershave as a present, but I’m going to throw it away.”

Or it was tims aftershave

Then he grabs me and kisses me.

I hate tim.

If Tim gives Shane a concussion, it won’t be the worst thing that happens here tonight. He gives me a long look. “Let’s make sure we stay together, okay? I won’t let anything happen to you.” I believe him.

Well thats FUCKING DUMB

Or Kayla lying on the bed, her chest covered in fresh blood, her eyes staring up at the ceiling.

What in the among us is going on

I get a good look at the book that Tim is holding. When I see the cover, my stomach sinks. It’s our high school yearbook. Why on earth would Tim bring that over here?

Bc hes a manipulative bastard and he wants to make josh see shane and be all oh he looks like me

And it’s the last thing I want Josh to see. Oh my God, what if he sees a photograph of Shane and notices the resemblance?

“Some football players you might have known beat him up bad enough to put him in the hospital once.” And suddenly, it all makes sense. Why Hunt hates Shane so much. Why he’s made it his mission to torture him. That asshole lied to me. And I’m going to make sure he knows that I know what he’s doing.

Oh my god would hunt not know who brooke is

“Nelson thinks I’ve been torturing him, but he has no idea.”

Hunt. I hate you too

pick up the necklace, holding it up until I can see the charm hanging off the gold chain. It’s a snowflake. I drop the necklace like it’s made of acid. I think I’m going to be sick. It’s the same kind of snowflake necklace that I used to wear years ago. The same kind of snowflake necklace that Shane tried to strangle me with a decade earlier. I jump up from the table so quickly that the chair wobbles on its legs. I feel a tightening in my throat. That necklace. It looks so much like the one I used to wear.

Tim u are a dirty piece of shit he knows fine we about that necklace and hes MANIPULATING HER

I can’t let this bother me. He was just trying to be sentimental and get me a gift he thought I would love. He had no idea I would react that way. I need to put it out of my head and enjoy the evening.

STOP GASLIGHTING YOURSELF

Oh God. She’s right. Tim is in love with me.

No shit

“What if…” I clear my throat. “What if I got it wrong? What if Shane wasn’t the one who tried to strangle me that night?” Tim’s hand abruptly leaves my knee. “What?”

Suspicious Reaction tim js saying

He came at me with a knife and buried it in my gut. All I could do was hit him with that bat, but the bastard didn’t go down. He looked right into my eyes, Brooke, and he told me you were next. Trust me—it was him.” The police found Tim unconscious and bleeding on the floor of the farmhouse

HE STABBED HIMSELF

Well, I didn’t forget about it so much as I hoped it would vanish into thin air while I was out with Tim. Or at least, he would know enough to throw it in the garbage bin, where it deserved to be. But he didn’t. He left it there for me.

I hold up the necklace, letting the snowflake charm swing back and forth. It looks exactly the same as the one I used to wear—the one Tim bought me for my tenth birthday. It’s a gold chain with a gold snowflake with white diamonds set into the six spokes of the snowflake. I look closer at the necklace and notice something else that makes my heart stop. The second spoke on the snowflake is missing a diamond from the edge. Exactly like the one I used to wear. This necklace is identical to the one I wore in high school. And it has the exact same defect in the exact same place as that necklace did. Is it possible that it’s the same necklace? I never found out what became of that necklace. After it broke, I never saw it again. I had assumed the police kept it as evidence, but maybe they didn’t. Maybe somebody else had it this whole time.

Ok wtf i hate tim

Tim claimed he got it at the town flea market. A flea market? What flea market is he talking about? I have lived in this town since I was a baby, and I never once heard about any sort of flea market. Was he lying? Stay away from Tim Reese. He’s dangerous.

Is it possible that Shane was telling the truth about that night? Is it possible he wasn’t the one who tried to strangle me with that necklace?

Yesyesyes duh ofc

What if Tim was lying about everything? No, I can’t think this way. Tim is my boyfriend. I’ve known him my whole life. He’s a good guy. He wouldn’t lie, and he sure as hell wouldn’t kill anyone. I know it better than I know my own name.

Stop GASLIGHTING YOURSELF

“Brooke,” he says. “I just want you to know that… I love you. I have always loved you, and I’m pretty sure I’m always going to love you.”

i despise you sir

Tim is also staring at the television screen. His eyes widen when they show the photograph of Kelli. His fingers grip the edge of the sofa, his knuckles turning white. “Isn’t that the waitress from the Shamrock?” I say as casually as possible. “Um.” He rips his eyes away from the television screen. “Is it? Maybe. I haven’t been there in a long time. Not since we went together.” “You’re not sure? Didn’t you say you went out with her?”

HEY JUST SAYING THE LASY PERSON HE WENT OUT WITH ALSO DISSAPEARED. I dont trust this man in the slightest

It doesn’t mean he’s responsible. Hell, Kelli probably just took off somewhere without telling anyone. She’s probably fine. I’m sure of it.

stop gaslighting yourself again girl

“You know,” I say, “sometimes you need to stand up to bullies. Last year, when my son was in fourth grade,

YOU JUST TOLD SHANE YOUR SONS REAL AGE YOU TOLD HIM HE WAS IN KINDERGARTEN

I stop short because Shane is staring at me like I just punched him in the gut. I rewind what I just said in my head, trying to figure out why he looks that way. Then I realize. “You have a son in fifth grade?” he asks in a hoarse voice. “You said he was in kindergarten.”

With every passing day, I’m more and more certain that Tim is The One.

THE ONE WHO TRIED TO KILL YOU.

“Hey.” He squeezes my knee. “Why don’t you grab a bottle from the wine cellar? I think we could use a drink.”

DONT GO INTO THE CELLAR THERE'S A 60 PERCENT CHANCE HE'LL LOCK YOU IN THERE

As soon as I enter, I identify an unpleasant musty odor that wasn’t here the last time I retrieved a bottle of wine from the basement—he’s probably growing mold down here.

ITS THE SMELL OF A DEAD BODY am i paranoid?

No, not just a shoe, it’s a high-heeled red pump. And it’s still on a woman’s foot. I stare at the foot sticking out of the tarp, unable to comprehend what I’m seeing. I look closer and can make out another shoe peeking out of the tarp as well. Does Tim have a mannequin wrapped in a tarp in his basement?

IS A DEAD BODY ITS KELLI HES KILLED HER RUN FOR IT I WAS NOT PARANOID

Don’t kid yourself, Brooke. You know exactly what you’re looking at. Her scarf is lying on the coffee table upstairs. I’ve got to get out of this basement. I drop the Merlot on the ground, and the bottle shatters into dozens of pieces. I run for the stairway, taking the steps two at a time, not bothering to be careful this time. I place my hand on the knob and… It doesn’t turn. Oh God. It’s locked.

I CALLED IT I KNEW IT IM SO FREAKING SMART

“Mr. Reese,” the first officer says, “we came here because of an anonymous tip that a missing woman named Kelli Underwood was seen entering your home the night of her disappearance.” I think I’m going to throw up. All this time, I believed Tim was a good guy. How could I have been so wrong? I wish I could take back the last ten years.

“This is ridiculous,” Tim says. “I didn’t even know Kelli Underwood.” “How can you say that?” I cry. “You went out with her! You kissed her!”

“I didn’t hurt her!” Tim bursts out. His face is bright red. “Brooke is my girlfriend. I would never…” A voice floats up from the basement. “We got a dead body down here! Looks like Underwood!”

I got it all wrong. I made a terrible mistake and trusted the wrong person. Because of that mistake, a murderer went free and now a girl is dead. I have to do whatever I can to make this right.

YA THINK

Today, after eleven years, Shane Nelson is being released from prison. And I am picking him up.

YAY MY BABY

“Actually,” Shane says, “we could take a walk. The woods right around here are really cool during the winter. We could even build a snowman. What do you say, Josh?”

Ok so I love shane but idk he's feeling pretty suspicious about smth right now

Local Prison Guard Found Murdered I stare at the headline, my heart sinking into my stomach. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t.

did shane take brookes car last night AND MURDER HIS PRISON GUARD

Oh God. It’s him. It’s Hunt. He was found dead—possibly today. I tap on the article again, but the screen has completely frozen.

It was Shane. I had been dating him for months. I knew his body. I knew it was him on top of me. It wasn’t Tim, who was skinnier and lankier. It was Shane. Shane was the one who tried to strangle me, and he was probably the one who murdered Hunt last night. How could I have ever deluded myself otherwise? Hunt was right. Shane is manipulative. He really made me believe…

WHAT THE ACTUAL LIVING FUCK IM LOSING IT RN

There was another killer in the house that night. Out of the three survivors, there was only one other person it could have been. Oh my God. Tim and Shane did it together.

excuse me while i jump off a bridge <3

“Oh, don’t worry,” he says. “I’ll be back eventually.” Before I have a second to feel relieved, he adds, “After all, I need to make sure you suffer for what you did.” “Shane…” “I wonder,” he says, “if you’ll scream louder than Tracy Gifford did.” My mouth drops open. I try to speak but no words come out. “Goodbye, Brooke.” I can almost hear him smiling on the other line. “Or should I say, see you later.” Through the phone, I can hear my son’s voice. His laughter. I might never hear him laugh again.

I TRUSTED YOU AND NOW YOU'VE WENT AND KIDNAPPDE JOSH AND THREATENED TO KILL BROOKE IM SO PISSED

“Shane!” I cry. “Please—” But it’s too late. The line is dead. I try calling him back, but it immediately goes to voicemail. Shane isn’t bringing Josh back. I don’t know where he is, but he knows I have figured out his game. I have lost my advantage. And even if he comes back eventually to try to hurt me, he’ll be smart about it. He’s going to wait a long time—until the heat is off. For some reason, the thought of facing off against Shane doesn’t scare me. What scares me is what’s going to happen to my son. I can’t let that monster get away with this.

I TRUSTED YOU